


Mistakes and realisations.

by AaronDingleAndHisRobert



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Angst, Drunk Robert, M/M, My take on the recent spoilers, Robert makes a mistake, Robert's struggling, Spoilers, robert needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 16:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10034399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AaronDingleAndHisRobert/pseuds/AaronDingleAndHisRobert
Summary: Aaron pushes Robert away in true Aaron form and Robert doesn't know how to make everything better so drinks instead.Based on the recent Spoilers.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So I've come to the realization that when I see a spoiler that i'm not all that thrilled about I write about how I hope it will play out.
> 
> This is my best case scenario based on the current spoilers.  
> Hope you all enjoy and sorry for any mistakes x

"I'm fine, Robert! Back off!"

Aaron's words are playing on a loop in Robert's mind like one of those terrible but ultimately catchy songs you hear on the radio and can't get it out of your head.

Robert hadn't meant to push Aaron to the point of snapping at him but seeing his husband suffering at the hands of his fellow prisoners and resorting to taking drugs because of it had left Robert feeling angry and useless and he wanted answers! But of course as soon as he showed Aaron any sort of concern, the bruised man had instantly curled in on himself and took the defensive, shutting Robert out.

It hurts that Aaron is pushing him away and the fact that Aaron has started taking drugs to handle the situation rather than talk to Robert about things and letting him help makes Robert's heart clench painfully in a way that he finds hard to handle. He left the prison not long after Aaron's little outburst and the first thing Robert did when he got home is pour himself a drink.

The last few weeks have been rough without Aaron around to anchor him and Liv is getting more and more out of control without her older brother around to show her the love and attention she so desperately craves. No matter how hard Robert tries to get the girl to open up she just continues to rebel against the world and against him for that matter. The Mill is still an absolute mess and Adam now has to turn away work at the scrapyard because Robert can only help so much with everything else on his plate.

Robert's whole life is falling apart around him and his main concern; the most important person in the world to him is stuck in a prison cell taking a beating because of the kind of man his biological father was and taking illegal substances to handle it all. Nothing seems fair right now and with eight shots of whiskey cursing through his system, Robert's feeling pretty damn sorry for himself.

He also feels exhaustion sweep over him in the same waves that have been plaguing him for the last week or so because apparently he can't sleep when his husband isn't in the bed beside him. He's just about to drag himself upstairs with the rest of his bottle of whiskey, leaving his glass behind because really he doesn't need it when a blur of blonde hair comes barrelling into the backroom.

"Chas said you would be back here." Rebecca smiles, dropping her hand-bag on the coffee table before taking a seat beside him on the couch.

"Well here I am so I guess she was right, what do you need Rebecca?" Robert slurs slightly, blinking a few times when he sees two Rebecca's instead of one.

"I don't need anything, I've been meaning to come see how you are since Aaron's been locked up but Chrissie's been keeping me more than busy at Home Farm, I managed to sneak away for a few hours so..." She trails off; taking the bottle of whiskey from Robert's grip before pouring herself a drink in the glass Robert was going leave in his mission for sleep.

"Right well I'm good. You can leave now." He grumbles eyes feeling heavy and his cheeks too warm from the alcohol.

"Come on don't be like that, you were there for me when Chrissie fell down the stairs. The least I can do is be here for you now. So come on how are you really feeling?"

Robert shrugs not really wanting to talk about everything that's going tits up in his life right now, Rebecca's a friend and he appreciates her wanting to be here for him but as tempting as the offer to vent to her is, she's not the one he wants to talk all of this out with!

"How about we just drink instead?" Robert asks eventually, necking another mouthful of the strong liquid in his hand before offering a slightly lopsided smile.

"Works for me!" Rebecca beams, throwing back her shot before snatching away the bottle to pour another.

*

They are half way through a second bottle of whiskey when the room begins to spin, Robert's having trouble focusing on what Rebecca's saying and there’s a dull thump thrumming through his skull that will not let up so he settles further into the couch hoping that the disorientated feeling will leave soon. 

 

Rebecca must take Robert getting comfortable as a sign to do so herself because soon after he settles in to the cushions she starts leaning into Robert's body. She's warm and soft pressing against him in a way that she has no right to do but Robert's having trouble remembering why and when she smiles up at him invitingly, her eyes wide with an innocence that she's never actually had, Robert easily leans slowly in to press his mouth to hers.

Just as their lips are about to meet Robert moves to cup her face and then his brain stumbles over the realisation that her soft jaw is nothing like the strong, stubbled jaw he's used to cupping whilst leaning in for a kiss. His thumbs don't meet the prickly soft spikes of a beard and the shape of the face he is cupping is all wrong!

It's like a sucker punch to the heart when Robert realises what his doing, his eyes grow wide and bile rises in his throat as he turns his face away just in the nick of time so that Rebecca's glossy lips meet his cheek instead but Rebecca is nothing if not persistent and having failed to make lip contact the first time, angles her face to try again only this time Robert presses both of his large hands to her chest just above her breasts and pushes her away.

With an over dramatic pout, Rebecca turns wide blue eyes on Robert and again he is ashamed to find that they are the wrong shade of blue. They're not nearly bright enough and the painted lashes surrounding them just aren't right!

"What's wrong? Come on Robert I know you want me." Rebecca whispers, her words not nearly as slurred as Robert expects them to be. But then maybe Rebecca hasn't drunk nearly as much as Robert first thought.

"N-no. I don't. I-I can't..." Robert slurs, leaning further away as she tries and fails to lean in one more time, **_"No!"_**

The volume of Robert's voice shocks Rebecca into springing back, her face red and her eyes wide. "Robert..." She starts but Robert doesn't let her say any more, forcing himself up on unsteady feet to create some distance between them.

"You need to leave," Robert tells her, his stomach twisting uncomfortably as Rebecca begins to protest, "I said go!" He shouts when she moves to approach him and she gasps when his voice echoes around the quiet room.

With tears in her eyes, Rebecca grabs for her jacket that Robert didn't even remember her removing and her hand-bag before retreating. Robert's just about to fall in a heap on the sofa when Chas comes rushing in, her face full of worry and her eyes searching for the reason Robert had raised his voice.

"I-I messed up Ch-Chas!"

"What do you mean you've messed up?" Chas asks her voice caring but stern because she was sure she wasn't going to like this. Robert is absolutely bladdered; it doesn't take someone who has owned a pub as long as she has to see that!

His blonde hair is a mess of wayward spikes and his face is flushed a shade of red that Chas has never seen on Robert before but it's when Chas notices his glassy blue eyes framed in swollen red eyelids that her heart drops, he starts crying in heavy heartbreaking sobs and his chin trembles with how hard he is trying to keep it all together, even now.

"I nearly kissed Rebecca." Robert sobs his voice rougher than usual while he gulps in huge bouts of air after each hiccuping sob.

"You did what? Robert how could you?!" Chas seethes, she knew letting Rebecca back here was a mistake but Robert has seemed so alone lately she thought he could use a friend.

"I don't know what happened! One minute we were drinking and the next I was leaning in but it was all wrong Chas! Her face was too soft and her eyes aren't blue enough and I... I'm so sorry! So so sorry!"

Never in the entire time that Chas has known Robert has he looked so pathetically broken! He usually has it all carefully put together, even in the hardest of times he manages to put on a brave face but this time is different and she can't help but believe him when he says that he's sorry.

"It's not okay but it will be, come here Love." Chas says, her voice taking the soft motherly tone that she usually reserves for Aaron and Liv but she reckons Robert needs it right now.

Robert stumbles into her open arms, bending his body in order to press his face into her shoulder and squeeze her around the middle.

"I'm so worried about him Chas! He’s stuck in that prison and there's nothing I can do to help him, nothing I can do to fix this and he doesn't even want me there." Robert cries into her shoulder and apparently he's a dramatic drunk.

"I'm sure that's not true Robert, you know what he's like! He pushes people away especially the ones he loves the most!" Chas comforts him, rubbing a soothing hand up and down his back for a few moments before pulling back.

"I just want my husband home!" Robert whispers, voice cracking on the word husband and if that isn't the most heartbreak thing Chas has ever heard...

"I know Rob, I know! I want him home too," She whispers back, her own eyes filling with tears now, "Come on you up to bed! We will talk more about this in the morning when you're not pissed as a skunk!"

Robert nods offering a truly pathetic attempt at a smile, squeezing his mother in laws hand before letting Chas usher him out of the room and towards the stairs. He barely makes it up them without causing himself minor injury but he finds himself face first on his and Aaron's bed soon enough.

He's too tired and filled to the brim with alcohol to stay awake any longer but he does manage to grab Aaron's pillow and pulls it under his face before dropping off into an alcohol induced sleep. Somewhere in his brain he knows he's going to hate himself even more in the morning and he is going to have to face up to his actions but for now he breaths in Aaron's comforting scent and falls into unconsciousness.

 

 

 


End file.
